Book Review

First Comes Scandal by Julia Quinn

Before reading Julia Quinn’s latest release, First Comes Scandal, I hadn’t read anything in about two months. Strange, because like most romance readers I am ALWAYS reading something and because (like most romance readers) I always have books waiting for me. But as the time since my last read led into our current moment, the idea of picking up a book to read felt even further away.

I didn’t have a lot of expectations coming into First Comes Scandal. It had been a little while since I had read the most recent books in the Rokesby series and my memories of Georgiana Bridgerton, the heroine of this book, were mostly of her as a periphery character in the series’ first book, Because of Miss Bridgerton. But like with all my reading slumps, I had a feeling that reading an author that was incredibly familiar to me might help shake something loose. One of the delights of this book was that I felt like I knew it. As Sarah mentioned in our conversation on Episode 399 of the podcast, if you’ve read Quinn, you know the world. It is a deeply familiar one and First Comes Scandal, with its appearances of Anthony and Benedict Bridgerton as children and Colin Bridgerton as a baby, is no exception. With those cameos, and the appearance of Violet Bridgerton, First Comes Scandal is the book in this series that most clearly reminded me that it is in fact a prequel to the Bridgertons.

First Comes Scandal is friends-to-lovers meets marriage of convenience. Friends to lovers is never really my go-to, but marriage of convenience is my “drop everything for it” trope, and I think one of the places that friends to lovers works best for me. The question I, and many other friends-to-lovers skeptics have, is why now? Why are these people falling in love now? But when marriage of convenience is mixed in, I become a little less skeptical.

After Georgie Bridgerton is kidnapped by a wayward suitor, family friend Nicholas Rokesby is summoned home from medical school by his father to, as Nicholas finds out only when he arrives, save Georgie’s reputation by marrying her. While neither Nicholas nor Georgie is particularly thrilled by being told that this is essentially their only option, they do (shock to no one) agree to marry. Both Nicholas and Georgie struggle with their overall lack of agency for much of this decision. For Nicholas, the order by his father to marry Georgie irks more than the idea of marriage to her itself:

Lord Manston snorted. “If you think I have ever managed to tell you mother or sister what to do, you are sadly mistaken.”

Nicholas set down his glass. He’d had enough. It wasn’t even noon. “Then why are you doing so with me?”

“Because I have no other choice,” his father shot back. “Georgiana needs you.”

“You would sacrifice your son for the benefit of your goddaughter.”

“That’s not at all what I’m doing, and you know it.”

It felt like it, though. It felt like his father was choosing a favorite child, and it was not Nicholas.

It was not even a Rokesby.

Georgie carries the concern that should Nicholas marry her to save her from societal ruin, she will forever owe him a debt of gratitude. This is something I think about a lot in marriages where one person is saving the other from ruin, and I don’t think this dynamic is examined enough in romances like these. I was glad it was part of Georgie’s story. Even as she falls in love with Nicholas and he falls in love with her, she is continually worried that the unevenness with which their relationship began will carry on through the rest of their lives.

This concern, however, is really beautifully counteracted by Georgie’s growing interest in assisting Nicholas in his medical work. Over the course of the novel, Nicholas is asked to provide medical assistance to a number of people. As she is often by his side (or talks her way into being there) Georgie slowly becomes a sort of medical assistant to Nicholas. Her involvement in his work becomes the ground where they bond over common interest, but also where Georgie begins to understand that she may not be a sacrifice that Nicholas made, but a potential partner.

As an aside, Georgie also gets to experience this glorious moment where she realizes she’s suuuuper into Nicholas as a competent doctor:

Nicholas had been magnificent this evening. There was something thrilling about a man who was capable, who could do things and fix things. She’d been mesmerized by his hands, by his flat, square nails, and the quiet confidence of his movements.

What you’re experiencing, my dear, is a competency boner, and it happens to the best of us.

Georgie and Nicholas’s relationship is the sweet, low angst build of two people who already knew they liked each other learning that they like each other in a new, more romantic way. Falling in love is not fraught, but rather easier than either of them imagined.

She gave him a look, then sputtered with laughter. “What does that mean?”

He grinned again, rather enjoying the feel of it on his face. “I have no idea.”

He was comfortable with her. He could make the sort of stupid comments that were only a little bit funny and made no sense. The kind one made when one didn’t have to weigh every word and worry about judgment or scorn.

That’s how it had always been with Georgie–well, except for the night before. And even that had turned out fine in the end.

There were worse fates than marrying one’s friend.

There is an ease from all directions in First Comes Scandal that was particularly soothing to me right now. The gentleness of Georgie and Nicholas’s relationship once they commit to one another, the overall lightness and humor of many of the book’s characters (there are some truly excellent butlers in this book and some fantastic cats). Georgie’s own character felt a bit flat at times in comparison to those around her, but a more distinctive personality begins to emerge as the book goes on. Her own development felt in part like a conscious choice, as Georgie expresses that her weak lungs in childhood often left her sidelined.

I think I can make you happy. I know I will try.

I think if I go with you to Edinburgh I might find that I’m not the person I always thought I was.

Maybe I’m someone better.

In the stress of the world right now, there is something extra reassuring in a book that, to put it plainly, isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. First Comes Scandal never makes you wonder if they’ll end up together (although I LOVE that kind of angst at the right time), and it doesn’t make the characters, or the reader, work too hard for the happily ever after. And honestly? Thank god. As the world started to fall apart around me and I attempted to ease myself back into reading, it was a balm to be with this book and know that this world, at least, felt familiar.

I can’t guarantee that in, say, eight months, I will read First Come Scandal again and have the same reaction, because I actually really love romance that is trying to do something new. But this first time, it was the right book at the right moment. Familiar enough that it didn’t feel like work, gentle enough that it caused me no stress. For some that may not sound like a ringing endorsement. But I think that for others, not having to work for or agonize over the happily ever after right now might be just what the doctor ordered.

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First Comes Scandal by Julia Quinn

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  1. Magenta says:

    EXACTLY what the doctor ordered. And I‘m all in for the competence p*rn

  2. JoanneBB says:

    I love a lot of the Bridgerton books but these prequels haven’t really grabbed me. I will pick this one up though, as I also enjoy a marriage of convenience trope and competent characters who can manage their lives are A+ for me. Plus, as you indicated, something gentle to read will be nice.

  3. Lisa F says:

    I rated this right around an A. It’s perfect romance novel comfort food and it’s hero and heroine are wonderful.

  4. Karin says:

    Thanks for this review, Kiki. I checked my library and the wait on Overdrive was 20 weeks, so I had no choice but to 1-click!

  5. Kara says:

    I read this on a Kindle, and didn’t realize how much I had read until I got to the end. I kept waiting for a Big Bad to happen, and it didn’t. It really kicked off a weekend of reading for me, something that hasn’t successfully happened since all this ::waves hand sweeping gesture:: happened.

  6. Brooke says:

    Can someone reply if a pregnancy features on the ending or epilogue? I need a comfort read, but am right in the middle of IVF.

  7. Skeezix says:

    Brooke, it doesn’t have any pregnancy.

  8. NanH says:

    Ditto what @LisaF said. This was EXACTLY what I was up for right now. Reliable writing, witty, likable characters (not just the hero/heroine), and not too much conflict. Hurray!

  9. ROSE says:

    This review got me to read the book. I’m all for competency. I loved this book. I loved that there was a lot of making out. Loved it. So many couples fall into bed or just kiss a couple of times and sleep together. Remember when you would get to know a person and make out with them for a couple of weeks at least before you had sex? I do. I super enjoyed this read. It may be one of my favorites. Putting it on my re-read list now.

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